Florida Department of Education

Summary

Hackers breached the Florida Department of Education's student financial aid website, potentially exposing the personal information of approximately 4.9 million people who applied for state-funded aid. The department detected the intrusion, launched incident response procedures, and contained the breach, though some online services may remain disrupted during remediation. Exposed data may include names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, home addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and gender codes, with specific information varying by individual. The agency has not disclosed the attack vector or responsible party, and no threat group has claimed responsibility, while state digital services and law enforcement assist with the investigation. Officials stated that existing student aid remains safe, disbursements and tuition payments will not be delayed, and eligibility for scholarships, grants, and loans is unchanged.

Motives

Detailed motive labels are available to members.

TTPs

Detailed technique labels are available to members.

Description

The Florida Department of Education disclosed that hackers breached its student financial aid website, potentially exposing the personal information of approximately 4.9 million people. The department discovered the intrusion on October 19 and launched its incident response procedures after detecting the threat. Officials stated that the breach had since been contained. The incident was believed to be limited to the Florida Student Financial Aid website, which operates at FloridaStudentFinancialAidSG.org. That website serves as the online hub for Florida's state-funded scholarship and grant programs. Anyone who has applied for financial aid in the state in the past could be among those affected, though not all individuals were necessarily affected and the specific information involved may vary by person. Data types that attackers may have accessed include names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, home addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and gender codes. The department has not disclosed how the attackers gained access or who is responsible for the intrusion. No threat group has publicly claimed the attack.

The Florida Digital Service and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement are assisting the department with its response. Some of the department's websites and online services may be disrupted for a time as remediation continues. According to the department, students' existing aid remains safe. The breach will not delay the disbursements and tuition payments the department handles, nor will it change eligibility for its scholarships, grants, and student loans. This incident follows a September breach at the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, where hackers accessed its driver database. That agency traced the intrusion to compromised credentials belonging to a local police department user. The ShinyHunters extortion group had claimed to have stolen more than 200,000 driver records in connection with that earlier incident, though the agency did not name the group.

Sources

Sources available to members: 1 source.